The M3 Touring’s cabin architecture and layout are pretty much unchanged. You now get a flat-bottomed steering wheel with a red straightahead marker and some new air vents, but that’s your lot.
There’s still the same 12.3in digital driver’s display and 14.9in curved infotainment touchscreen, with the latter now running an updated version of BMW’s iDrive software.
It’s graphically sharp and the system is generally well laid out, although there are quite a few menus and sub-menus to deal with.
We like the fixed row of climate controls at the bottom of the screen, plus the physical buttons that surround it and the classic rotary iDrive controller on the transmisison tunnel.
Even with a blue-blooded straight six, the M3 Touring offers the same practicality and everyday versatility as a bog-standard 3 Series estate. You get the same independently opening rear windscreen hatch and rubber strips in the boot floor that rise up when you’re on the move to prevent anything sliding around the substantial load bay.
If you need more capacity, the second row can be folded flat, turning this family estate into a 523bhp tip-runner. It’s almost surreal being sat in a bucket seat and looking back in the rear-view mirror to see such endless space.
With the second row fixed, there’s more than enough room for taller adults; even sitting behind my own driving position, I could get comfy in the back. I was glad to have a decent amount of leg room, too, because I wouldn’t want my knees to come into contact with those carbonfibre-backed seatbacks.
Speaking of which, the seats are wonderfully supportive and more comfortable than they look, although the wedge of carbonfibre trim between your legs is rather annoying.
By
